The humble chip, or French fry, is in danger of a continued rise in price as the potato yield continues to fall.

And, as the owner of one local chipper professed, it’s not good for business.

Kenny Donaldson, of Kenny’s in Enniskillen, spoke of how the cost of bringing in a 25kg bag of potatoes for his home-made chips is around £6 more expensive than this time last year, and that he and other outlets are feeling the effects.

“Potatoes have been more expensive all year and at the moment they’re very expensive,” he explained.

“We pay £16 for every 25kg bag of potatoes. Whereas the same 25kg bag of potatoes was around £10 last year.”

And while he said it was difficult to pinpoint the exact effect this was having per bag of chips, he admitted that they have become “a lot dearer.”

“The demand for potatoes has increased, and the suppliers are not as selective with what they’re putting in the bags. They sometimes have small potatoes. We don’t want small potatoes, we don’t want the marbles,” he said.

“We’re not any better off as a business, and others in the county would say the same thing.

Everybody is in the same boat. The potatoes we’re getting at the moment are good. The only worry is the price of them.”

The drop in the potato crop yield has been put down to heavy rain and flooding.
- Fermanagh Herald